Various types of electrical connectors are used for a wide variety of applications. Particularly common in the professional audio industry is the use of binding posts with XLR plugs for connecting audio components to transfer audio signals.
Conventional binding posts generally provide reasonably good surface area contact for reliable conductivity. Binding posts are versatile terminals, and may accept banana plugs, alligator clips, bare wires, spade lugs or other electrical connections. The XLR plug in a conventional binding post assembly is an added feature that enables a number of cables to be coupled together to achieve any desired length. XLR connectors are widely used for audio connections because they provide balanced lines capable of traveling long distances without significant interference.
A conventional XLR binding post assembly 100 is shown in FIG. 1A. The conventional assembly 100 consists of three binding posts 114 corresponding to the three conductive wires found in standard XLR three pin connectors. A male-type XLR plug 130 is found at the base of the assembly 100. Although not shown, the assembly 100 may instead have a female-type XLR plug. Industry standard XLR binding posts come in either male or female types, to enable the connection of the three conductive wires between one XLR connector to a complementary connector. Each binding post 114 includes an internal metal post 120 capped by a plastic cover. The binding posts 114 are typically color-coded to indicate high, low and ground terminals. The internal metal post 120 includes a through-hole for receiving bare wire connections. Each internal metal post 120 is mounted on a metal platform 122 with a plastic external cover. The metal posts 120 are internally coupled to the corresponding conductive pins of the XLR plug 130 within the body structure. The entire assembly 100 is housed by a protective ABS plastic case.
In the professional audio industry, situations arise where it is necessary to access a phone line for various purposes. For example, microphones are commonly connected to other electrical components by either using XLR connectors or phone lines. Professional microphones in particular may need to be connected to various electrical devices and tested over long distances. A user may want the option of connecting the microphone through a phone jack or may need access to a phone in a remote location to communicate to others during testing. Typically, the user must then extend a separate phone line to that location, which is often cumbersome and time consuming. Having access to phones, however, is common practice in the audio industry, and with a phone users are able to conveniently “ring down” to another phone at the remote location.
Another drawback to the conventional XLR binding post is when bare wires 132 are received by the assembly 100, they must be threaded through the through-hole of each metal posts 120, as demonstrated in FIG. 1B, and clamped down by tightly twisting down the cap on the binding post 114. The assembly 100 of FIG. 1B is the same as the assembly 100 of FIG. 1A, and in the interest of brevity it will not be described again. XLR binding posts are typically manufactured with the through-hole centered on the internal metal posts 120. A common problem with this assembly 100 occurs when the bare wires 132 are guillotined as the binding post 114 caps are tightly screwed down. The through-hole is elevated above the metal platform 122 due its orientation in the metal post 120, which typically cause the bare wires 132 to stretch and break as the caps on the binding posts 114 are tightened. This is particularly a problem if the threaded wires 132 are phone wires, since phone wires are typically thinner.
There is therefore a need for an XLR binding post assembly having a phone jack for connecting to phone lines on a single device. Additionally, the XLR binding post assembly must be able to receive particularly thin wires without inflicting severe damage or causing breakage.